ependence is invaluable.
NOBLIFF (No business lunch is for free) & INTERNET
A very personal view formed from own experiences and not aimed at or for any particular company, service provider, consultancy or software house.
Independence is invaluable.
How to get on and remain independent, flexible and attractive on the
Web.
First NOBLIFF is consultant speak
for "No Business Lunch Is For Free" (for more see ACRONYMS).
It is all for free on the WEB (as advertised) you may say, well is it ?
OK
lets look at some aspects and use yes,but.
Free ISP (Internet service provider your first contact into the web)
yes,but they do get a percentage of your call
costs or let you watch advertising.
Free e-mail account yes,but
you are hooked like myname@xxxxx.xxx or myname@mycompany.xxxxxxxx.xx.xx .
Once established to change this bears the same cost
as changing address or telephone number (OFTEL doesn't pay for the next one)
Free web pages and free design software yes,but
why do so many pay to obtain professional software and again look at your address
mycompany@xxxxxx.xx.xx
or myname.mycompany@xxxxxxx.xx.xx or worse myname@mycompany.xxxxxxxxxx.xx.xx.
You become locked in as it takes weeks and a very good design to appear in search engines and stay there not to speak of your contacts you have to inform about changes. A bounced e-mail or Server error 404 is a lost contact and it may just be the message "go-ahead" you have been waiting for or a desperate customer that is prepared to meet the most outrages price if you can deliver to their demand. Yes,but this is avoidable.
Have you send an e-mail to xxxxx@xxxx.xxx and heard nothing or kept wondering if it has arrived yes,but serious e-commerce companies / ventures have auto respond confirming your e-mail and even giving you a track number.
E-mail us yes,but to be at the receiving end where mail comes in and you have to read it all, classify it, file it and respond to the reasonable ones, seriously eats into the gained efficiency by using this medium. So forms and form processing respectively contact storage in a searchable database is needed and for free ?
Does independence, service and flexibility cost an arm and a leg NO, but it’s not for free either (see NOBLIFF).
Remember mycompany.com / org / net / co.uk / plc / inc / will become or is the window to your business and your business alone. You decide what happens behind this, you decide who is running the show for you and if you hit gold a good hosting company will let you know before you even realise and you can arrange capacity by sending an e-mail (and yes you get a confirmation).
OK., OK you are saying I don’t have a gold mine yet and 12 employees to keep, so how much ?
How much did you say you where spending on advertising ? , and that is once a week ?
After paying a one off registration for two years (70 $) I don’t think 10 $ a month is expensive to keep your independence, flexibility and get service , not to forget YOU GET 24 HOURS 7 DAYS A WEEK ADVERTISING FOR FREE in the fastest growing medium .
If your business is small or VAT exempt, no problem as all these services can be sourced from outside the UK.
Oh and I have forgotten to mention attractive. My very personal opinion of attractive on the Web is a site that builds fast, no blurb no jerking and information highlights that allow me to decide
Martin B. Goetz-Jablonowski
4 / 2002
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